I used to do mapping with the Call of Duty Radiant mapping tools. And the problem stated here was the same. I know some of the coding/script commands are different, but the concept is still the same(i.e. brushes, meshes, fx, skins, textures, cylinders. patches, lighting, vertices etc)
My solution was always to give the map a goofy internal tester name (and all it's associated files) such as "crapmap_beta_1". This is for your own testing. I would personally go prone the whole map for hours , to find overlapping/missing or textures where you could see through to the skybox. I would not even show anyone the map without doing this first. or with a very closed group of testers i.e. friends/fellow clan guys.
Once it would get on the actual test server, it would have a more generic name such as
"forest_outskirts_map" and once all the kinks/glitches were worked out, it would be given it's proper name. example "mp_brjansk" , and that would be the final version, then Released for general gameplay on ALL servers.
Suggestions that worked for me and other mappers:
1- Effects/Scripting i.e. fire, smoke, snowfall, rain , were generally kept off the betas. Reason: maps reference these script files and if they're similarly named it might try to "Access" these scripts from a previous iteration of the map on a player's pc or the server itself. Plus, while testing all these effects get "oohs and ahs" but generally are not needed other than to give a map "feel" and "ambience".
2- Give all scripts unique names such as "crapmap_beta_1_snowfx" and change every single time the map name changes. change map/script names often (hard to keep track of, but you're making a pro map anyways and comes with the territory)
3- Test with only closed groups. Get a clan/group to host the server, use a password if possible, lock server if possible. Instruct clan members/group on how to delete/copy map files from the RO2 folder. Reason: you don't want glitchy/crashing maps to get out into the game's general population. You would think that most people have the common knowledge of how to remove/add custom maps/mods from their pcs. But the reality is, a good percentage are foreign/casual players who don't know how to get into game directories or there is a language barrier. So you get all these people with a corrupt map, and they're never going to be able to play the new "fixed" version for reasons listed above.
On any given map we made, it would have a total of about 7 map names
Internal: map was deleted immediately after issues were found-Never released to general public
crapmap_beta_1 (check out my new map, it's so kewl phase)
crapmap_beta_2 (damn it has alllooooot of glitches, i'll work on those)
crapmap_beta_final (fixed most of the glitches, on to major gameplay, I think this team should spawn here, this should go here, delete that, phase of map)
Server (Test/Clan) map was deleted immediately by testers/clan-never released to general public
forest_outskirts_1 minor glitches, gameplay issues still present, but nothing that requires remaking the whole map, adding heavy eye candy, models, bricks , debris etc
forest_outskirts_2 around here, is where the scripts/effects were added
forest_outskirts_final final iteration of map "final test" phase, technically there shouldn't be any game breaking "omg i get stuck here, or cant do this" type of issues anymore.
General Release: the redirect/server download version
mp_ardennes_1944 (leftover minor cosmetic glitches are not worth a general re-release/risk , and are generally indistinguishable from Stock maps, as a mapper, I've seen all of TWI's/Activision's glitches that are very fixable but they probably don't fix them because of above compatibility/crash issues of having to many maps with the same names)
There's absolutely NO REASON(other than pure energy and excitement about a map) that a map should get out with a _beta attached to it's name. Good things come to those who wait.
Just my 2 cents worth. Don't hate me
It just seems the maps are getting released too soon in alot of cases.
